


we're more alike than you think

by sunshine_locks



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Multi, and tbh it's probably the worst thing i've ever seen but i'm gonna post it anyways, experimentation of sexualities and... stuff, hi i love 2 suffer, hoping all ya'll will help me on that front, i don't think the execution of this story allows for it, i start way too many novels, i totally had a killer twist that would surprise you all but..., it's vv nice on the eyes but everything about it just seems... off, lol praise me to the high heavens or make me cry actual tears idc, the timelines are sooo off in here, this is all an experiment and i'm hoping it works, this was the first novel i had started in earnest, why meeee, yeah..
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 01:15:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12097506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshine_locks/pseuds/sunshine_locks
Summary: I was ready for my sixth year at Hogwarts. N.E.W.T level subjects may be the hardest thing I'll ever do, but I had Scorpius Malfoy and the time for it. I just wasn't prepared for shy and anxious Albus Potter.





	1. rev rev revved up for Hogwarts!

**Author's Note:**

> i literally said everything i wanted to in the tags it's literally a tag novel
> 
> the "be nice and honest??" line is from How I Met Your Mother. Robin is a queen. "My Name Is Asher Lev" belongs to Chaim Potok. lovely book tbh. "Green Eggs and Ham" belongs to the wonderful Dr. Seuss.

(c) milominderbinder @tda

* * *

I woke up early—earlier than I should have. I looked blearily around the room, glancing briefly at all the furniture, decorations, and colorful posters residing in it.

The first thing that hit me was that it was plain, despite my hardest efforts to make it interesting. It just seemed that my room really was just for sleeping purposes, because in the daytime, I don’t make it a point to stay in here for long.

Finally, acknowledging that I needed to get up to pack my things, I swung my legs over the bed and made the short walk over to the door that lead to my brothers’ room. I opened the door and made long strides to the light blue curtains on the other side of the room and threw them open, letting the bright sunshine in. My brothers stirred slightly, not at all bothered by the blinding light. I sighed and shook the both of them quite violently and they protested.

“Sis, stop that,” Lorcan muttered.

“Yeah,” Lysander agreed sleepily.

“It’s September first! Aren’t you excited to start your second year?” I asked, sounding a bit indignant.

I received groans in response.

“Well, that’s too bad I’m afraid,” I informed them. “Neither of you have packed your things for Hogwarts when you were supposed to do it yesterday. Get up now or you’ll be walking around naked for the year.” And with that, I walked to the bathroom and started brushing my teeth, after which I took a short shower. I made quick work of packing my clothes and necessities for school with a nifty packing spell and then walked downstairs. The only reason I was alright with using magic underage was because using a small spell won’t result in snapping your wand.

I saw my parents already up and working around the kitchen busily to make breakfast for us. They occasionally threw food or something of the sort at each other and I smiled at their antics; they are still in love like newly-weds after so long.

After a bit, my Mum set down something green and something brown in front of me, which looked like ham. I shrugged and stabbed a fork at the green substance.

Eggs, which were dyed green.

Green eggs and ham.

Lovely.

I ate it anyways. While I was eating, Lorcan and Lysander clambered noisily down the stairs and started eating as well, albeit reluctantly. They still seemed to be stuck in their sleep-hazed stupor.

I finished my food and waited impatiently for them to finish, whilst tapping my foot rhythmically. I’m usually kind of patient when it comes to most things—scratch that, I’m not really—but waiting to go to Platform 9¾ wasn’t one of them. I absolutely _cannot_ handle going through crowds. They were too, well, crowded. I preferred the calmness.

Seeing my Dad and Mum finish eating, I called, “Dad? Mum? Ready to go?”

“Almost sweetie,” Dad said, throwing a brief smile at me.

I waited outside, bringing my heavy luggage with me. I looked around disinterestedly, catching a few bugs flying around the abundant amount of flowers we have, as well a plethora of plain trees beyond my house.

My thoughts strayed from the plants as I bounced on the heels of my feet, starting to think of what my sixth year would bring me.

 _N.E.W.T.s, boring classes, and many stressful and silent days in the library. The same as ever then,_ I thought.

“All ready,” Dad said. “Let’s go!”

We climbed into the car (yes, a car; my Dad has an affinity for the muggle things, including my Mum). I sat near the window to watch the scenery pass by, even if it was in a blur.

Going to King’s cross on September first was always a boisterous affair. Lorcan and Lysander chattered excitedly about new creatures they could create for their ‘Book of Mythical Creatures’ that they claim they are going to create one day. Mum chipped in helpfully but was more often than not distracted by the stranger things that passed us by outside the windows. Dad listened amusedly to our chatter, as did I.

Finally, we arrived at King’s Cross which was less crowded than usual as it was early in the morning. Mind you, it still had the early hagglers, or perhaps they were people that tended to walk around the city at night, or just hung out here.

Gathering our things, we walked to the pillar between nine and ten. I ran through easily and saw a sparse platform. Lorcan, Lysander, Dad, and Mum showed up tumbling to the ground all while laughing.

The four of them had always found fun by the simple act of running through a wall, especially one that looked so real and solid. I never did understand the excitement in that; I was extremely cautious running through it my first time here.

“We’re here,” I said unnecessarily.

“Yes, we are. We’re rather short on time, so we’ll have to cut our goodbyes a bit. Well, now, I hope you have a good year. Try not to get into too much trouble, please study hard, be nice, be honest; you get the gist,” Dad said, hugging me tightly. “We’ll miss you.”

I smiled faintly, but I replied jokingly, “Be nice _and_ honest? Choose one, not both!”

Dad chuckled and I moved in to hug him again.

My Mum moved forward, hugging me as well. She said to me, “Have a good school year! While you’re there, you should try to find pixies and fairies; they hide under rocks and patches of moss. Those would be nice to see close up. Take pictures for me?” She gave me a rather pleading look, but I already know she was lying. She had already seen the critters she mentioned of course, she was a magical zoologist. She just really liked my collection of photos picturing animals that I have. I appreciate the sentiment regardless.

“Of course. I have my camera with me,” I responded. My Polaroid camera. I take pictures of random things and hope they turn out good because those bloody films cost me three galleons for ten of them. Or I could just, you know, try harder for better pictures. Which… Which I should probably do, seeing as photography was the only thing I find remotely interesting.

I kissed her cheek, and she did likewise.

My parents turned their attention to my twin brothers, whom to which I heard them say ‘…no more giving swelling potions, and please for the love of god no more trying to start fires…’ I started to load my things into the train. I found an empty compartment and took out a book to read. _My Name is Asher Lev,_ it was called. It was a rather interesting and thoughtful book to read.

It wasn’t long before I was interrupted in reading my book by the door sliding open squeakily. I look up to see a head of dark-streaked blonde hair and sharp and prominent features.

Scorpius Malfoy.

“Hello,” he greeted genially with a single wave of his hand.

“Hello to you too,” I greeted back, happy to have company.

I met Scorpius in my second year and a person could describe our relationship as anything, but the one that most describes it was _unconventional._ He just kind of approached me and sparked up a conversation. And just like that, we were friends. You could say that it was our oddities that brought us together and you would be correct. I am Luna Lovegood’s and Rolf Scamander’s daughter. That made me an outcast, especially when said daughter was in Slytherin. Scorpius Malfoy was, well, you know, the son of Draco Malfoy, a well-known previous Death Eater. _Naturally,_ we attracted each other.

“So, how was your break?” Scorpius asked, breaking the silence.

“Same as always. Doing homework, taking care of the brothers, exploring forests with Mum and Dad,” I replied. “You?”

“Oh, studying. The classes this year are supposed to be hard, since they’re NEWT level now. It’ll make it easier on me,” he replied.

“Oh, I know,” I said. “It’s what you always do. Did you even get to spend time doing what you want?”

“I wanted to study, Charmaine.”

“I know that,” I said exasperatedly. “I mean something in your interest that isn’t studying.”

He shrugged, turning his head to look at the window. “I don’t know. I did little things. Like, I learned how to bake with my Mum and my Dad showed me how the basics of the workings of the Ministry. Useless for me, but at least I spent time with my Dad.”

“Fun,” I said blandly, a slightly horrified expression on my face. Scorpius smiled mockingly in return.

And we went on like that for a few minutes until we were interrupted by the compartment door opening once again.

That confused me. It was usually just us two, and it always has been; who would want to sit with us?

I looked over to see the vaguely familiar face of Albus Potter. He looked to us and asked, “Do you mind if I sit here with you? I usually sit by myself but I couldn’t find an empty compartment.” He offered up a perfunctory smile to us.

Scorpius answered yes before I could so I just nodded mutely. I followed his movements and watched him set down his things and get out a tome from his bag that must at least be two times larger than my head. He was already dressed in his robes for school. I finally turned my head, facing the large windows showing the quickly moving scenery.

Albus Potter was something of an enigma. In fact, he could probably be the poster child. He was one of my housemates, he was quiet, and he has next to no friends that aren’t a part of his family and even _that_ was small, being limited to little fourth-years Lily and Lucy. He was the best student you can find at Hogwarts, which was astonishingly surprising since Hermione Granger’s daughter goes here. It also goes to say that Harry Potter wasn’t very well-known for his intellect, but more for his far grander actions. Everybody expected Albus Potter to be just like his Dad.

The Wizarding World knew nothing about him except for the obvious, for nobody could break the metaphorical walls built around him. This only made the public more curious, wanting answers to the guessing game they’ve been playing ever since the first Potter child was born. Was he a hero like his father, does he like quidditch like his mother, will he be an auror or quidditch player—it was all so very stupid and a waste of time, really. Why pry for information that will never be available to you?

Well, whatever they expected, it certainly wasn’t Albus associating with us, the freaks of Hogwarts. A rather rude word to use to describe us, but the shoe fitted us perfectly.

I looked over at all of us. Scorpius was reading a book, Albus was looking out the windows, and I’m looking out the window forlornly as if I was in a music video featuring a particularly dreary song.

Albus doesn’t seem to care at all who he’s sitting with, which says quite a bit about him. At least he doesn’t care much about who he hung out with. I certainly don’t.

I looked closer and I realized if the three of us were placed side by side, we would look like the supposed ‘Bronze Trio’ that was to be when Albus, Scorpius, and Rose started Hogwarts, except I replaced Rose. As anyone can see, it didn’t really work out.

I let out a quiet laugh, which went unnoticed.

The proverbial snowball has been set rolling, so I wondered how this year will turn out.


	2. a new class and partners? oh my!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm actually kind of proud of this chapter because it's short. those were the days when i could actually make my chapters short. now i can't stop short of 4000 words. why me.
> 
> the creative writing class bit was inspired by the class available at my own school!

(c) milominderbinder @tda

* * *

The train ride passed by in quick fashion. It was dead silent and nothing bothered to break it. Scorpius was too uncomfortable to speak in Albus’ presence and Albus had put away his book, opting to look out the window, and playing with his hands.

I honestly don’t know what I was expecting, what with Scorpius’ tendency to close up around new people and Albus being Albus.

Nearing Hogsmeade, I quickly dressed into my uniform as did Scorpius (after me, of course. We’re close but not _that_ close) and we both exited the train, taking our time walking to the carriages. After we were out of Albus’ vicinity, I asked, “So?”

“So what?” Scorpius answered swiftly.

“What do you think of Albus?” I clarified.

“Nothing. I don’t know enough about him, but I guess he could be nice, I suppose.” Scorpius narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re not interested in him… Are you?”

It was no secret that I _was_ interested in Albus Potter, more than one should be. He knew this, though I had no idea why he was asking.

I grinned sheepishly. “What can I say? I have an affinity for the stranger things in life.”

“Albus is just abnormally quiet, not an animal study,” Scorpius said while shaking his head disapprovingly. “Seriously, I’m telling you this before something fucks up or something. These kinds of things are never in your favor.”

I shrugged. “I’ll deal with it somehow.”

“Not possible. You are a literal walking mess.” I wish he was kidding. I left everything to the last minute and stressed myself out to the max, and then complained about how long it took me. Then, Scorpius pointed out that I had two weeks to do the assignment and then I proceed to wallow in my own despair. I also never brush my hair; I just raked my fingers through it and call it a ‘style.’ It was a vicious cycle.

He let out something in between an annoyed growl and a sigh. “Well, if you’re going to be like that, here’s your chance then. The only carriage not full is the one Albus is sitting in,” Scorpius said.

“That’s ironic; you say I shouldn’t, yet you encourage it! But thanks! Let’s go,” I replied, quickly grabbing his hand, dragging Scorpius over to the carriage he pointed out with me.

“Only because I never had a chance of stopping you!” Scorpius huffed and ran with me so he could let go of me.

We reached the carriage and climbed in. Albus turned his attention to us almost immediately, evidently surprised. The surprise faded away and turned his attention back to the front of the carriage, seemingly looking at something that isn’t there.

A while had passed before I asked, for niceties sake, “So, what’s your name?”

He turned his head to me again, confusion and surprise once again etched on his face. It was obvious he wasn’t expecting me to talk to him, or ask him such an obvious question.

“Albus Potter,” he replied after a long while, playing along.

“Your name has a nice ring to it,” I commented lightly. “I’m Charmaine Scamander.”

He blushed slightly, averting his eyes. He seemed shaken, though for what reason I don’t know. Quietly, he said, “Thanks.”

I smiled at him, and started grabbing for my things, as we had reached the castle. The Hogwarts castle had a dim glow around it, making it seem something out of an ethereal dream.

“Anyways, it was nice meeting you! I’ll see you later,” I said rather abruptly, climbing out of the carriage, Scorpius close behind me. I waved him goodbye.

“You too,” Albus said going his separate way, probably to meet up with his family.

“Well, that went well,” Scorpius said.

I nodded, happy. Entering the Great Hall, I walked over to the Slytherin table and sat myself down and Scorpius took a seat next to me.

“Quiet down, please! If you’re all ready to go, we will now commence the sorting,” Headmistress Chang’s voice rung through the hall.

I snorted. She was awfully formal for someone who attended school in the 90s. Or perhaps she was just raised that way. She never came off as a person to have the prestigious title of Headmistress; I always thought it was going to be McGonagall. But, sadly, she gave up that title to concentrate on being a Transfiguration teacher. It paid off in the end; she was a damn good teacher.

“Avery, Raven!”

“Slytherin,” Scorpius said quickly, guessing the first year’s house.

“No, she’ll be Ravenclaw,” I said decisively.

“What because her name’s Raven?” Scorpius asked disbelievingly.

I shrugged. “It could happen. Also, I should point out that you said Slytherin because of her last name.”

“True enough,” Scorpius conceded.

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

“Well. That was unexpected,” I heard Scorpius say.

I laughed.

“Boot, Havyn!”

“Definitely Hufflepuff,” I said.

“Gryffindor,” Scorpius chimed in.

“GRYFFINDOR!”

“Ha!” Scorpius grinned at me triumphantly and I lightly hit him across the head.

He stuck his tongue out at me.

I laughed again and rolled my eyes.

And it went on like that for the rest of the Sorting until the feast, where we gorged ourselves like pigs. There was no shame involved; we all loved food, especially the amazing array of chocolate the house elves served. Maybe that was just me.

I went to bed in my dorm room, where luckily all my roommates were still out. They were quite the chatty ones and it made for a rather hard night of sleep.

I climbed into the comfy bed face down and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

* * *

I woke up at seven, an hour earlier than breakfast started. I dressed as usual, making sure my green tie and cuffs were in full view. Despite Slytherin being advertised as an inherently evil and dark house, I am still proud of it. It received most all of the blame and negative vibes, which was a downer on anyone’s mood. Some people needed to learn that if anybody was a bully in this house, it was because they want to be, not because they are in Slytherin.

I walked down to the common room which I expected to be devoid of people, but it wasn’t. Albus was sitting there, with a book in his hands and his head bobbing up and down, as if he was close falling asleep.

I considered leaving him be and go to the Great Hall by myself, but I threw caution into the wind and walked towards him. I tapped his shoulder a few times and he jumped and looked up.

“Hi,” I greeted casually. I leaned forward into the couch. “It’s still a bit early, but do you want to come down with me for breakfast, or would you like to sleep some more?”

He raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise. He always seemed to be surprised when people deigned to be nice to him or even bother talking to him. I supposed it was a consequence of being alone for so long.

I felt a stab of sympathy hit me and I made sure it didn’t show on my face or in my eyes. I’m not too sure he would appreciate that.

“I…” He faltered. He shook his head slightly. “I’ll come down with you. Thank you.”

I smiled at him. “It’s no problem.”

We walked in comfortable silence to the Great Hall, where we branched off to our own places at the Slytherin table. I sat in the middle where I usually sat with Scorpius and grabbed the toast already set in front of me and a glass of orange juice. I nibbled on my toast quietly.

Scorpius arrived a little while later and sat down next to me.

“Good morning,” he mumbled tiredly.

I hummed at him in acknowledgment.

As the hall started to fill up, teachers started to walk around handing out their students’ schedules.

I looked at my schedule, just now handed to me by Professor Zabini. A new class had just been added this year, Creative Writing, and I was one of the few that signed up to take it.

I was fairly happy with my schedule as I knew Scorpius a couple of the same classes with me. He didn’t take the writing class available and I didn’t take his Arithmancy class but he could make the days pass by a little bit faster.

My first class was Charms, of course. I finished the last bit of toast in my hands and I got up and signaled Scorpius to get up as well.

We made our way to Professor Flitwick’s class, where I claimed my seat for the year.

Time for the start of the sixth year.

* * *

The first day passed as quickly as I thought it would. Now it was time for the last class of the day, which just so happened to be new class Hogwarts had added.

I bounced slightly on my heels, excited for this one particular class. I chose my seat in the front and waited as students trickled in slowly. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a familiar head of black hair walk in. I looked up to get a closer look at him. I smiled slightly at the thought of sharing a class with Albus. Despite us both being in the same house, we’ve never noticed each other—or rather he never noticed me. At least I noticed him this year, the key word being ‘this.’ He might have been in a few of my classes in the previous years and I would be none the wiser. I only ever paid attention to Scorpius. Albus was merely a passing interest in the halls.

I directed my attention back to the front of the class, as the teacher had arrived. She was a rather short and stately woman and looked quite young compared to the other teachers. She seemed to be an overall friendly person, what with that bright smile on her face.

“Hello class! My name is Professor Lawrence! I am teaching Creative Writing, as you can see.” She waved her arms around in a sweeping motion to indicate the whole room. “I’m a little new to this teaching thing, so please bear with me!”

She went on for a little while like this, almost boring me to death. I do hope the class will be more interesting than this.

“Now, usually in writing novels or short stories, we come up with ideas using our experiences or are inspired by real life. But often times we are stuck, unable to come up with any good ideas. So, I’ve decided to assign partners, as a way to bounce ideas off of each other and critique each other’s writing. I’ll be assigning them now.”

I became interested. Partners? That could be helpful. I’ve no idea why I am why I am suddenly so determined to be friends with Albus Potter, but here I am, trying. I suppose I am attracted to the mysteries and oddities; just like what pushed me to become friends with Scorpius, when he first talked to me. It seemed so rude to word it like that, but it was what it was.

As she started to list off names, I shook my head and threw out the thought of that ever happening. I worked on lowering my hopes; she was assigning the partners and there was a good chance that I won’t—

“Albus Potter and Charmaine Scamander.”

Well, I’ll be damned. That was lucky.


	3. of taking pictures and falling on slippery slopes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was hella weird for me and idk why. 
> 
> "Titanic" is 1997 American romance film directed by James Cameron.

The whole class was paired off and they all moved to sit with their respective partners. I signaled for Albus to come here to me. Gathering his things haphazardly, he moved.

As soon as everybody situated themselves, Professor Lawrence started speaking again.

“So, the first item of the day is…”

She gave us a lecture on the structure of writing and grammar and I absentmindedly took notes, occasionally looking out the window. The sun was at its highest peak, shining down brightly on Hogwarts. Even so, it would probably still be as cold as a dementor’s heart out there. Big, fluffy clouds that looked like edible cotton candy floated around lazily. I wondered what it would feel like to fall asleep on top of them.

I looked back to the front of the room and then looked to Albus. He wasn’t even bothering to take notes; instead he was just listening. He was twirling around his quill and his head rested in his hand. I wonder just how he was able to acquire the name of smartest and most intelligent student, if he doesn’t even take notes. They were kind of essential. Just a bit.

“Alright, I think we have enough time?” She cast a tempus charm. She saw that we had just short of fifteen minutes. “Well, no matter. Work with your partners to write a short story using what we’ve learned. Just a test to see if you’ve learned the skills or not,” Professor Lawrence said.

I took out another piece of parchment to write on.

“So, what do you suppose we should write?” I questioned Albus curiously.

He jumped and looked at me like a deer caught out in headlights. It took him a while to gather his wits and answer. I can’t possibly be that intimidating can I?

Softly, he answered, “I guess I tell a tale of one of the craziest things you’ve done?”

“Eh,” I said, “I’ve got nothing better. Help me?” He nodded, not looking at me.

I looked down to the piece of parchment and started writing down whatever came to my mind. Albus, sometime during while I was writing, slowly inched closer and quietly pointed out my tiny mistakes and made suggestions on my wording and sentence structure.

I was hyper-aware of everything he was doing, and cursed myself for it. I could literally feel his body heat radiating off in waves. He was distinctly scented like crisp apples and cherries. What a strange but pleasant combination. I wondered what kind of perfume he uses and I need it—stat.

I almost leaned in closer unconsciously but I caught it before I embarrassed myself.

“So,” Albus said slowly, carefully, thinking of his words, as if he didn’t want to offend me, “Any other crazy things you’ve done?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Me falling out of what I’m pretty sure was a ten meter tall tree for a photo of a goddamned butterfly isn’t enough for you? I managed to break at least half my body that day.”

He smiled a sheepish sort of half-smile at me. “I don’t know… I see you often on the Hogwarts grounds, wandering, sometimes even into the Forbidden Forest. Knowing your mother and father, I thought you might do the crazier things at the end of extremes for pictures. Or anything else really.”

This was the most he had ever talked to me. Glad to see he was _somewhat_ talkative.

At his answer, I raised my eyebrows slightly in surprise. So he _had_ noticed me before sixth year.

I shrugged. “It’s a hit or miss. I do it or I don’t.” I ended it there as I noticed that students had started to leave and gathered my stuff.

“It was nice talking to you,” Albus said pleasantly, only for me to hear.

“You too,” I responded in turn.

Well, that was interesting. He seemed to be observant; quiet people often are, and they were also the ones you should be careful with—they tend to be at the extreme ends of the personality spectrum. Quiet people swung around like pendulums; they were so unpredictable. I wondered which one he was, and for my sake, I hoped he was only just keen to the finer details.

I walked back to the common room quietly. Dinner was to start in about three hours.

As I arrived into the Slytherin dungeons, I saw Scorpius sitting hunched over some parchment, most likely his homework. I set my stuff down unceremoniously and plopped down next to him. Scorpius jumped and looked to see it was just me and went back to his work.

I frowned. Scorpius was always like this. Always immersed in his work, trying to get everything done in time. If it wasn’t Albus in the lead for grades, I’d bet everything I have that it would be Scorpius. He was adamant about them—a good thing of course. I guess it was because of the ‘Malfoy’ tacked on to his name, which made his life that much harder. Not to mention the fact that his family lost most of their money at the end of the war. He needed a well-paying job if he wanted to live well.

“Scorpius! Take a break! How long have you been working?” I asked forcefully, trying but failing to put on my best Hermione Granger face. It was an intimidating look on the woman herself, but on me it looked pathetic.

He shrugged, not faltering at the look on my face. “Not long.”

I glowered at him.

“I promise you, not long! Just a few hours!” Scorpius flashed a not so convincing smile at me.

I huffed and then grabbed his things, putting it all back into his bag while Scorpius spluttered, saying that he wasn’t done yet.

“We,” I declared, pointing an accusatory finger at him, “are going to do anything other than homework! And you will not complain.”

Scorpius pouted. No, really, pouted; like a five year old child.

I smiled sweetly at him. “You look ridiculous doing that.”

He sighed and shook his head. “You win.”

“So,” I started casually, “how was your day?”

Scorpius huffed, crossing his arms petulantly. “Good. It turns out I have a class with the ice-queen herself: Rose Weasley.”

“Yeah?” I asked, my interest piqued.

“Yeah. She doesn’t like me very much and she’s made that very clear before. But just my luck—and hers for that matter—we were both paired together in Arithmancy,” Scorpius said.

“Oh, um…”

“And then the strangest thing happened! She started talking to me,” he whispered, wanting only me to hear. And then he leaned back, stretching his arms back. “It’s weird, don’t you think?”

“It is,” I agreed. “What else did she do?”

“I don’t know, she started talking to me, as if we were friends. We worked for a bit and then asked me to tutor her in Arithmancy. It explains why she was so nice to me.”

“It does,” I agreed once more. “But it makes no sense. She’s got Albus as a cousin and not to mention she can hold her own in brains and intelligence. So why would she ask you?”

Scorpius let out a scandalized sort of gasp, and put a hand to his chest dramatically. He came closer and whispered conspiratorially, “Maybe she likes me!”

I snorted. “Unlikely. In all seriousness though, what are you going to do? We don’t know her very well; we can’t assume the best of her.”

“We also can’t assume the worst of her either,” Scorpius said automatically. “I’m going to go I guess. She seemed pretty sincere in asking her favor.”

I sighed and conceded.

“How was your day?” Scorpius asked, wanting a change in subject.

“Pretty good. Turned out I had a class with Albus.”

“Lucky coincidence,” Scorpius quipped. “Can’t imagine what you would have done if he wasn’t.”

I smiled innocently at him. “Not much. I would’ve just talked to him, like I did this morning. He isn’t averse to it. It really doesn’t take much to make friends.”

“And yet you stay with me,” Scorpius said dryly.

“Because you’re the best, obviously!” I jumped up and grabbed his hands in mine. I changed the subject, having gotten bored of the previous one. “Hey, hey, do you think you’re up to walking around the grounds for pictures?”

Scorpius shrugged. “You’re obviously not going to let me do my work so really, I’ve no reason to refuse.”

“We all know that you’re going to come back to it after I leave.”

Scorpius made no comment, instead getting up to follow me.

I went up to my room to grab my camera and skipped down the stairs to go out on the grounds. It was still slightly lit outside but highly filtered. This was when all the fireflies come out, floating around in the air like tiny tangible stars.

Oh, it was so pretty.

What could I do with this?

I looked around some more, slowly turning my body around, taking in every bit of my surroundings. I finally looked at Scorpius, who was looking around, a bit impressed at the sight. His hands were extending his reach, as if trying to catch one of the fireflies. I wanted to take a picture, no matter how cliché.

I looked down at my camera and adjusted the settings a bit. I looked up and snapped a quick picture. The film came out the other end a few seconds later and I scanned it. It was highly pleasing to look at, with the fireflies showing up as small and bright dots. Scorpius was the center piece and he looked a lot less stressed and much happier than compared to before. The picture wasn’t perfect (it was a bit blurry around the edges) but I liked it.

I looked up once again to see Scorpius still trying to play with the fireflies, swatting at them. I put the back of my hand to my mouth to muffle my laughter. To no avail though; he definitely noticed. I distracted him with the picture I just took.

He took it out of my hands and held the edges of it delicately. He scrutinized it.

“I’m biased,” Scorpius said in a very serious voice that made me think it was a joke. “I’m obviously the subject here and I always look pretty. Therefore, this picture is perfect.” He flourished his hands in a very grand and a ‘of course it was, it’s me’ gesture.

I snorted. “You’re not that narcissistic Scor. And really, if anybody’s pretty, it’s me. I’ve got that soft and aesthetically pleasing look going for me.”

Scorpius hummed and nodded his head theatrically. “Definitely, definitely. Hand over the camera now.”

I handed it over to him. “Why?”

“Because I want to take a picture of you. See if I can capture the beauty you claim to have.”

“Alright…” I said, although a bit unsurely. Scorpius wasn’t all that good with taking pictures, which made me concerned about wasting the film.

Scorpius walked to a sort of grassy and hilltop landscape and I trailed behind him. He had me standing where there was a downhill slope.

“Okay, so now stretch your arms out far and wide,” Scorpius instructed.

I gave him a highly confused look but followed through with it. It was a bit like that one scene in Titanic—except there’s no Jack behind me. Scorpius could easily suffice for him however.

“Okay, so stay _very_ still,” Scorpius said, emphasizing the ‘very’.

“What do you think I’m doing?” I snipped.

Scorpius let out a sound that sounded like a harrumph.

Just as Scorpius was about to take the picture, I slipped and fell; quite comically at that too.

“What the fu—“

It was probably the collected water under my feet. Or the rather steep slope. I’ll swear one of those was it because I don’t fall without preamble. I just don’t.

I heard myself groaning in pain and I remembered that the flash also went off. I also hear Scorpius guffawing loudly, presumably at the motion-picture photo. Or me.

“Hey, how about instead of laughing at me, could you possibly help me get up?” I asked irritably.

He didn’t hear me.

So instead of getting up like a normal person, I flopped around some more. Scorpius continued to laugh, until it started to get annoying.

“Let me see the picture,” I demanded, after I sat myself up properly.

He handed it over to me, albeit reluctantly. It showed me first standing quite calmly, until my face morphed into something of a mix between surprise and slight fear. The face I made after I fell was pretty hilarious, I’ll admit.

I handed it back to him; obviously he was going to keep it. I trust he wouldn’t use it for blackmail.

After that whole debacle, we continued to take stupid pictures, making offensively garish poses for the cherry on top of it all. That was until, a professor interrupted us, and quite rudely too.

“What are you doing?” The voice was sharp and obviously annoyed.

Both of us turned our heads so fast it was almost neck breaking.

Scorpius bumbled around looking for an answer. “Um, well, we… we were…”

“We were taking pictures,” I cut in smoothly. “Nothing that would warrant trouble or anything of the sort,” I added on, subtly telling the teacher he wouldn’t get away giving us unwarranted punishments.

The severe looking professor frowned so deep it was nearly embedded into his face. “It does when it means the both of you were out on the school grounds long past after dinner.”

Oh, had we been out that long? I hadn’t noticed. We also missed dinner too; bummer. I could see Scorpius was disappointed at this too; his stomach just growled. The professor ignored this.

“You’ll both be given a detention a tomorrow night after dinner. Usually you would be given a warning and I would let you go, but the both of you are sixth years; you should know by now,” he reprimanded. “You’ll be cleaning cauldrons for Slughorn; he has quite a few dirty ones. A prefect will oversee your progress.”

This was slightly disappointing to me, but I was easily uplifted by the fact that Scorpius would be with me.

“Alright.” I shrugged in a nonchalant manner. “We’ll be going now.” I waved at the severe Professor cheerily, and I grabbed Scorpius’ hand and turned to walk away to our common rooms without so much as giving the professor another word.

“Sucks to be us but at the very least we both fell down together,” Scorpius said despondently. “And I was planning on doing that Charms essay we were assigned today though…”

“Scorpius, you are digging yourself into a grave I won’t be able to help you out of,” I replied.

Scorpius turned his head slightly to me and frowned. “Oh come on, Charmaine.”

“It’s _your_ grave that you’re digging. Anyways, I’ll see you tomorrow.” I bid him a goodbye and went my separate way.

Entering my dorm, I immediately collapsed face first on to my bed and fell asleep, thinking no more of my concerns for Scorpius.


	4. detentions and planning to break into Hogsmeade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is by far the most cliched yet my fav 
> 
> "Wonder" belongs R.J. Palacio. "Zootopia," "Big Hero 6," and "Moana" belong to Disney. The "steve bucky m-preg fic" line is one of Daniel Howell's famous lines. It was a pretty niche reference.

I woke up rather surprised; the alarm was way too loud and my poor unsuspecting ears echoed the shrill sound. I jumped up out of my bed frantically to shut up the incessant ringing. In doing so, I fell out of bed unceremoniously and face-planted onto the floor.

I groaned, my voice muffled. This was so not the way to start a new day.

I grudgingly picked myself up and walked to the bathroom; luckily it was still a bit early, so no one occupied it.

I brushed my teeth sluggishly and took a short shower. I wore my uniform neatly and made my way to the Great Hall. As I was, I didn’t see Albus like I did yesterday. I shrugged to myself moved on.

I ate my breakfast slowly while I read my book (it’s _Wonder_ this time). It did not take long for Scorpius to walk in to the Great Hall tiredly. Always so, so tired.

As he sat down, I nodded and offered a smile to him, which he returned. His tie was crooked and a few hairs were out of place, which was pretty big deal since his hair doesn’t get messy at all, even if you purposefully try to mess it up. He looked rather harried.

“New book?” Scorpius commented, nodding towards it, and bringing up a piece of toast to his mouth.

“Yes,” I replied, pleased he had noticed. Not that he couldn’t _not_ notice it. “It’s about this boy who has mandibulofacial dysostosis and you know… how he deals with going to school for the first time.”

“Big words that I don’t understand one bit and at this moment in time, I don’t care. Sounds interesting though. You’ll have to let me read it one day,” Scorpius said, pushing aside his plate of food and laying his head down to rest.

“Apathy does you no good,” I said, shaking my head. I went back to reading. That boy does not understand the concept of going to sleep early. Or sleeping in for that matter. He could afford it since I was the early riser, and I was literally the only one who went to breakfast at this godawful time.

In my peripheral vision, I noticed people trickle in as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky. And as soon as I thought a substantial amount of people had left, I started packing my things for class, as well as giving Scorpius’ body a good shake for a wakeup call.

“Time to leave,” I said rather loudly. Scorpius winced visibly and nodded blearily.

We made our way to Defense. Scorpius tripped so often I almost had half a mind to think he was tripping on acid.

As soon as we sat down, Professor Weasley ( _Victoire_ Weasley) started her lecture on being on the offense or some other thing.

I was having so much fun today already.

 

* * *

 

The classes were over for today—finally!—and I walked sluggishly to my dorm in the dungeons, passing Scorpius in the common room, who was surprisingly reading rather than doing his homework. I’m glad he was finally doing something for himself rather than for school.

Having made my way up to my room, I set my bag down beside my bed and collapsed down on my bed.

Today was a long day for me; even Creative Writing had dragged on. It didn’t help that the Defense teacher decided on an impromptu dueling demonstrations after her lesson on being on the offense. Everybody fought two by two and pitted against Scorpius, I had no chance and with it came sore muscles and sheer embarrassment.

So sleep right now would be something of a miracle for me.

I stared at the wall until colors and stars clouded my vision and my eyes closed slowly.

When I woke up, it was because someone was shaking my sleeping body and yelling my name quite loudly.

“…maine! Charmaine! Wake up!”

I jumped, my eyes flitting around crazily attempting to make out the threat. My eyes landed on Scorpius’ crazed face and relaxed.

“Well?” Scorpius crossed his arms, looking properly vexed.

“Well what?” I asked rather dumbly, my brain still addled with sleep.

“Get up! It’s time to go to detention! Professor Slughorn will have our heads if we’re late!”

“Not really,” I said, getting up slowly and rubbing my eyes. “But whatever. How did you get up here?”

“Hogwarts permitted me,” Scorpius said, annoyance saturating his voice. He made a grab for my hand and dragged me down to the potions’ lab. And this time, it was me who was tripping over her own two feet.

We’d made it just in time, with the Professor that gave us detention standing there, tapping his foot rhythmically, and looking annoyed with the world. His sharp and irked gaze locked on to us and snapped, “You’re late.”

“By five minutes,” Scorpius said apologetically, as if that would help our case.

“Whatever,” he said rather rudely. What the hell was the school board on when they were hiring him? Aren’t teachers supposed to be nicer than this? Be all caring and sympathetic and just caring about your well-being? I guess not.

“The prefect that’s watching you is Albus Potter. I am sure you know him, as you are in the same house. He’ll be making sure you won’t get your teenage minds in the gutter or in any trouble.”

Hearing this, I carefully made sure that my face was blank, even after hearing the very obvious innuendo. Although, I couldn’t keep away from thinking, _Albus is a prefect?_ It was a perfectly reasonable question; I had never seen him properly patrol the hallways. But then again, I did go to bed at a time earlier than most teenagers do, and I never get out of my dorm unless I absolutely had to.

He gave us another severe look, and said, “Give me your wands. You’ll be doing this manually.” Reluctantly, we both did so. Satisfied, he nodded his head to himself and then he went off in the way we came.

“I was going to say that I wasn’t expecting that, but by now I should probably get used to it,” Scorpius quipped nonchalantly. “We definitely are going to have more encounters with the elusive Albus Potter.”

I didn’t reply, as just then, Albus somehow materialized right behind him. I stared uncomfortably at Scorpius until he got what was going on.

“He’s right behind me isn’t he,” Scorpius said flatly, and also somehow awkwardly.

I nodded, averting my eyes. The second hand embarrassment was very real and tangible.

And if I thought the awkwardness levels couldn’t get any higher, Albus had decided to add in a small voice, and waving his hand feebly, “Hi.”

“Hello,” I greeted him, my voice strained. I gestured to the potions’ lab beside me. “Shall we get to work?”

Albus nodded and opened the door. I followed him in, as did Scorpius. I automatically moved to take a rag from the pile provided to us and started to work on cleaning the cauldrons. Thirty minutes of scrubbing at the same spot and inane amounts of water probably could only scrape off half a layer of what must be at least ten layers of grime. And these weren’t even the cauldrons that we used in the potions class. Were they specifically designated for students who were assigned detention? Lucky us, then.

The silence around was permeating so much with the excess awkwardness that we’d inexplicably created, it was almost palpable. I looked over to Scorpius, and saw a dull blush forming over his face even though he had done nothing wrong. A pattern I saw was that we almost always created an awkward atmosphere around new people every time. But I also guessed that a pattern wasn’t really a pattern if it had only happened once or twice, so I supposed the third time was the charm.

I glanced over to Albus, who was sitting on the table, swinging his legs and twirling his wand. He seems to be humming an indeterminable song, but it sounded catchy. Occasionally, he tapped out a beat on his knees with his hands. It was as if he forgot that we were here.

For a moment I’m almost jealous of him because he doesn’t have to scrub impossibly dirty cauldrons, but after a second passed I realize that it was only a detention and that I need to get over myself.

… Ha! Watch me _not_ do that.

Silence sat on our shoulders and tired of its ever growing weight, I said, “We should play a game.”

Both boys looked at me: Scorpius with an interested one, and Albus with one of surprise, probably because I had even chosen to break the quiet at all.

“Oh yeah?” Scorpius prompted me. He tilted his head in curiosity. Is that just something predisposed in humans? Tilting your head when you were curious? “What kind of game?”

“Twenty questions,” I said decisively. “That professor assigned a prefect so he wouldn’t have to check up on us himself. I think we can talk. It’s a great chance to get to know each other.”

Scorpius smiled, playing along. “It is. You start.”

“Favorite color,” I said quickly, saying the first thing that came to my mind.

He gave me an unimpressed look. I stuck my tongue out at him.

“Chartreuse,” Scorpius said finally.

I wrinkled my nose, disapproving of his choice of color. “Chartreuse? It sounds like some type of fancy-schmancy tea.”

Scorpius grinned at me. “It’s shade of green. It also happens to be a type of liqueur, not a tea. You?”

“Green.”

“But there are so many shades…” Scorpius whined.

“Fine,” I sighed. “Grass green.”

“Like that’s any better!” Scorpius clapped his hands in between each word for emphasis. “I need specifics!”

I harrumphed. “Clearly, Scorpius, I don’t know the colors of the color wheel as well as you do!”

Scorpius pouted. He turned to Albus. “How about you?”

Albus himself looked slightly confused.

Scorpius frowned, and I gave him an appraising look.

I chimed in, “What, did you think we were playing between us two? What’s the point in that? Because Scorpius and I have been friends with each other for about four years and we probably know each other like the back of our hands. We wanted to get to know _you_.”

He looked nothing short of flattered. He looked down at his feet in embarrassment, blushing. He mumbled, “Oh.”

Scorpius and I gave each other knowing looks, as if to say _how long has it been since he had a friend?_

We turned back to him and looked at him expectantly.

Albus, knowing we were waiting for him, answered, “I like green too. If you want specifics, it’s forest green.”

“Like your eyes?” I blurted out, not even processing that I had said it. By the time I did, I couldn’t take it back and I flushed, taking to scrubbing my cauldron even harder, avoiding Albus’ eyes.

When I got an answer, it wasn’t from Albus. It was Scorpius who said laughingly, “Of course! They’re rather pretty aren’t they?” Here was a short silence, where Scorpius was most likely studying Albus’ eyes. I wonder how long it would take him to realize what he did is pretty couple-like. I don’t think he will.

“They are,” I squeaked out. It sounded pathetic.

Albus folded in on himself even more, now actively avoiding looking at us.

“Hmm, next question! Favorite thing to do when nobody’s around?” Scorpius asked inquisitively, genuinely interested.

“Er… That’s a pretty personal question, don’t you think?” Albus muttered to Scorpius.

Scorpius’ eyes widened comically. “Oh? It would be… If you had something to hide, of course.” He leaned in closer to Albus. “So, what do you do in your free time? Read dirty fanfiction? Or even better: _write_ dirty fanfiction?”

I laughed. The thought of Albus doing that at all was a funny proposition.

In that moment I decided to chime in, “My guess is that you like reading your favorite Steve Bucky M-preg fic when you’re alone.”

Scorpius looked at me now, giving me a wicked grin. “That’s quite specific, Charmaine. Do _you_ have something to hide?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. I was still laughing. “It’s a reference.”

“Christ, it’s neither of those things!” Albus said to us, finally getting a small grin out of him. He’s been so terribly tense this whole time.  He put his hands up in a somewhat defensive gesture. “I like to draw occasionally, and write sometimes. But it’s not dirty at all though; you only wish it was. And besides, if I do try, it always ends up with me rocking myself on the floor in a blushing mess. I don’t know how other people do it.”

I chuckled a bit. “Neither do I, but they are obviously experienced.” I screwed my face up in thought. “Or maybe they just have a really dirty mind.”

Albus hummed in agreement. “Okay, my turn right?” Both Scorpius and I hadn’t answered yet, but we let it slide because Albus looked like he was having a lot of fun with us. For the first time in a long time, even. I didn’t want to ruin it.

I nodded my head.

“Um... Favorite muggle thing? Well, other than fanfiction, I think. Is it?” Albus tilted his head toward Scorpius questioningly.

Scorpius answered, “Maybe? I mean maybe not, since FiFi LaFolle’s novels are most definitely just books that are pairing herself up with hot guys.” Scorpius tapped his chin in thought. “And maybe a Harry Potter-esque character thrown in there too. Have you seen how the guy character and the girl character essentially stay the same no matter what book she writes?”

“Really?” I frowned. “I’ve never noticed. If that’s the case, I wonder how she acquired such a large fan base.”

Scorpius nodded. “It’s true, and I wonder that too myself. Anyways,” Scorpius said, coming back to Albus’ question, “I think my favorite muggle thing is the pen. It’s so simple but like… Hogwarts doesn’t allow any student to have any. Like, I know they’ve got a medieval theme going on, but like, it’s the twenty first century. Come on, get with the times, wake up and smell the roses, you know? Pens are so much easier; you don’t have to keep dipping it in a pot of ink. And if you run out of ink, you can just grab another pen, instead of having to buy more ink.”

I nodded, understanding his trivial plight. “Mhmm. I get what you mean. I still haven’t gotten used to writing with them. My hand starts cramping up not even an inch into an essay. By the end, my hand is practically dead.”

Scorpius grinned at me. “Third world problems, am I right?”

Albus smiled slightly and I let out a sound in between a snort and a laugh. I was so attractive. “Yep. I like muggle movies a lot. I think they’re really cool, especially the animated ones. I am a sucker for movies like Zootopia and Big Hero 6. And when I get a chance to watch Moana, I’ll probably like that one too.”

Albus smile widened marginally, and I was pretty happy that I’d decided to mention the movies I liked. “I like Big Hero 6 a lot too. I think it’s what fueled a bit of my robotics phase a while back. Have you ever seen any Studio Ghibli movies?”

I shook my head. Albus looked expectantly at Scorpius.

Scorpius shook his head. “No, I don’t even know half the stuff you’re talking about. I may live in a muggle neighborhood, but I don’t really partake in the life that they live. I’ll be sure to explore around this summer break though.”

Albus’ face fell into a pout, showing his disappointment. Funny how on Scorpius it would look ridiculous, but on Albus it looked, as I say, ‘cute.’ “That’s too bad. And you’re so lucky to be living in a muggle neighborhood… Oh well. Back to you… Oh, er…”

“Charmaine’s fine,” I supplied, slightly disappointed he forgot.

“Charmaine,” Albus said, smiling, now that he’s more reassured.

I gave him a smile too, mostly because I liked the way my name sounded on his tongue. My mind wandered off into a gutter and cloyingly added, _how would it sound if he was moa—_ no. _Fuck_ , where did that come from? That wasn’t supposed to be an afterthought let alone a _thought_. I can’t think like that, because right now, it was dangerous. Don’t go down that rabbit hole just yet, Charmaine.

“Biggest trouble you’ve ever been in?” I asked, not being able to think of anything else. Which was surprising, since there was lot to learn in just one person.

“Hmm…” Scorpius hummed. “I guess when I ran away when I was eight. I don’t know, I guess I wanted to explore the forests that were beyond my neighborhood. My parents had to file a missing child report.”

That was pretty personal of him, because he may have passed it off as an insignificant small thing, but it was still something of a source of fear. He doesn’t like forests these days. How was he already that comfortable with Albus?

“Yikes, my man,” I said, acting as if didn’t know anything. “Why would you do that?”

“My stupid eight year old mind that it would be fun, apparently,” Scorpius laughed. “Man that was a wild ride. My parents yelled so much at me—or maybe more to themselves, I wasn’t really listening—they lost their voices. I was sent to my room for like a month or twelve.”

I winced in sympathy. “That must have sucked.”

Scorpius smiled at me. He turned and asked, “So what kind of big trouble have you been in, Charmaine?”

“You say that like you wouldn’t believe it,” I said disapprovingly.

Scorpius added thoughtfully, “Well, other than a couple of detentions for staying out late, you don’t have much on your record. Or maybe it’s just because you’ve never been caught.”

“True enough,” I conceded. “Biggest trouble I’ve ever been in was when I fell out of a tree. Albus knows this story.” I nodded towards him.

Albus smiled at me slightly. “I do. What happened after?”

“The same thing that happened to Scorpius, except it was necessary, not as punishment. Well, the intense boredom was punishment enough. I liked the outside a lot better than inside.”

Scorpius let out a low whistle. “Breaking your bones? You reached a new low before I’d even met you. I’ve underestimated you, Charmaine Tina Scamander.”

“Literally we’re the most boring people ever, Scorpius. There is no low to be reached when you’re us.”

Scorpius frowned. “Harsh. I’d beg to differ that.” He gestured toward Albus. “How about you?”

Albus bumbled around to find the right words, presumably flustered. “I, uh, well… I’ve never got into much trouble. Between the teachers watching me and doing schoolwork, I’ve never gotten a chance to.” Albus shrugged helplessly.

Now I frowned. Why would the teachers watch him? He wasn’t _that_ much of rule breaker, was he?

Albus seeing the questioning look on my face, he said, “Don’t ask me. I don’t know either.”

“Ah. Not once? Not even a tiny rebellion, like drawing on the side margins of your essay?” Scorpius fished around, searching for any dirty detail on him.

Albus shook his head. “Not me, I’m afraid. Never stepped a foot out of line.”

“That sounds like a boring existence, if you ask me,” Scorpius said, something akin to concern coloring his face. “Like yeah, at first glance you would probably think I would be the perfect student who doesn’t bother to get in much trouble, but the rule breaking gives me a way to get rid of the boredom. Or the need to be out and about. Whichever. Charmaine seems to know when I need it, so she helped out a lot.”

I nodded. “It’s true.”

A slow grin spread across my face, and Albus seemed wary of it. Good, because it was definitely going to get him in trouble if we got caught. Which I have full confidence we won’t, if everything goes according to the half-baked plan in my head.

“Say, Albus,” I said slowly, carefully, “would you like to come with us to Hogsmeade this weekend?”

Albus looked increasingly worried with each word I said. “We don’t have a Hogsmeade weekend though…”

Noticing he had deflected the topic, but had not outright dismissed the idea, I became more confident. “No, there isn’t,” I agreed. “But we can sneak in.”

Albus stayed quiet, mulling the idea over fighting between saying ‘no’ and his curiosity. Curiosity winning over, he asked, “How?”

“There are passageways. It went around the student body as a rumor a couple years ago. Somebody tried it out and it worked so everybody does it nowadays. The teachers don’t know about it, because the students have kept pretty mum about it,” I explained to him, attempting to ease his worries.

“Still sounds risky though,” Albus fretted, combing through his hair slightly obsessively.

I knew I’m pushing it at this point, and I really feel bad for doing it, but I really wanted him to come with us. I wanted him to be able to say that he broke the rules and got away with it at least once. It wasn’t really much of a life if you always stuck to the rules because if you did that, you would never get what you wanted from people, from life, or whatever, and even the strict rule followers knew this.

“Er… If it’s any help, this isn’t something that’s caught often. The chances are extremely slim,” Scorpius feebly added in. “And I don’t think Charmaine here really cares whether you say yes or no, she’ll take you either way.”

I nodded eagerly, making it seem as if I would do this. I wouldn’t, but if it helped… I wouldn’t mind Scorpius fibbing about me a little.

Albus looked skeptically at the both of us. Slowly, he nodded his head in okay. I couldn’t help but notice it was rather reluctantly.

I broke out into a grin and Scorpius held his hand up in high-five of sorts, which I gave to him.

“Okay, um, I think your detention is over now,” Albus said hastily, wanting to leave. “You can go, and I’ll tell the Professor you did what you could during the allotted time. I’ll have your wands to you by tomorrow morning.”

I nodded at him gratefully. “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem,” he muttered, maybe to me, but it sounded more like it was meant for himself.

Scorpius and I left the potions’ lab together. Making sure Albus was out of sight, he said, “So, we’re doing this?”

“Of course,” I exclaimed, but I made sure to be quiet in the echoing hallways. “I don’t go back on promises.”

“It seems to me that he would be glad if you went back on it,” Scorpius muttered disbelievingly.

“Come on,” I said. “I think he needs to get out a little. He can’t live his whole life being shy and conservative, and living by the needs of others. What I’m hoping is that he’ll be able to find what he wants to do, instead of doing stuff for other people. It’s up to us to teach him, you know?”

Scorpius shrugged.

I patted his back. “We’ll be fine.”


End file.
